Pacific Biosciences announced that it raised $100 million in funding for commercial development of its single-molecule, real-time DNA sequencing platform. The company has said that by 2010, it will launch sales of a system capable of sequencing the human genome in 15 minutes

The round was co-led by Deerfield Capital Management and Intel Capital, the funding arm of Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. Funders also included Silicon Valley firms Mohr Davidow Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, which have offices in Menlo Park; Alloy Ventures and DAG Ventures, which have offices in Palo Alto.

 "With the backdrop of a difficult market, we believe that this substantial investment by our current and new investors validates the promise of our SMRTtechnology to change the field of DNA sequencing and spark a true revolution in medical care," said Hugh Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific Biosciences.